European Cup Final 2

Last weekend saw Rugby's European Cup Final and it was the ultimate game of two halves with Northampton dominating the first half and then being completely outclassed by Leinster in the second half.  That was therefore one of five predictions I got wrong resulting in a loss of £2 on the week and taking the profits and loss of the blog predictions to £0!!

There are numerous highlights of this sporting weekend, for some it will be the Champions League final at Wembley, for others it will be a motorsport event whether in the glamorous surroundings of Monaco or the Indianapolis 500 at the Brickyard, then there is the final of the Aviva Premierships and Magners Leagues whilst not forgetting the football league playoffs!  Meanwhile the French Open tennis is at it's midpoint and the Giro d'Italia reaches it's climax in Milan with Alberto Contador looking almost certain to be crowned champion as he potentially seeks to become the first rider to win all three Grand tours in one year, subject to not receiving the drug ban that his been hanging over him since last year's Tour de France.

I'll start the predictions with football and the Champions League final which has all the ingredients to be a superb match as the undoubted best footballing team Barcelona take on the Managerial nous of Sir Alex Ferguson in a repeat of the 2009 final.  Whilst my head says Barcelona I'm going to predict a Manchester United win mainly because the match is taking place in England.  My second football prediction is the Championship play-off final on Monday between Reading and Swansea, perhaps the richest game of football in the world because of the payments a team will gain from being in the Premier League.  My prediction here is for a tight game but for the Welsh team to become the first from the Principality to play in the Premier League.

The British club rugby season reaches it's climax with the Aviva Premiership final at Twickenham where Leicester there for the seventh consecutive season take on Saracens in a repeat of last year's final.  My prediction is for Saracens to reverse last year's result in what should be a close match. Meanwhile the Irish teams of Leinster and Munster meet in the Magners league final and if Leinster can motivate themselves after their Heineken Cup success last year I can't see them being beaten.

Two of the highlights of any motorsport season are the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indy 500 and both take place on Sunday.  Whilst Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel in particular has dominated the season so far the nature of the Monaco circuit will help the other teams to close the gap and as such I'm predicting a Hamilton win and an Alonso podium.  On the other side of the Atlantic the Indy 500 takes place at the famous Brickyard over the memorial weekend and my prediction is for a Scott Dixon win and last year's winner Dario Franchitti to make the podium.

Finally, Rugby League's Superleague continues and my predictions are for two home wins, Bradford to beat Salford and Wigan who host Hull KR.

In summary the predictions are as follows:

Champions League Football Final

Manchester United to beat Barcelona at 3/1

Championship Play-Off Final

Swansea to beat Reading at 17/10

Aviva Premiership Final

Saracens to beat Leicester at 13/8

Magners League Final

Leinster to beat Munster at 8/11

Monaco Grand Prix

Hamilton to win at 9/2
Alonso to podium at 4/6

Indy 500

Dixon to win at 4/1
Franchitti to Podium at 29/100

Rugby League Superleague

Bradford to beat Salford at 4/11
Wigan to beat Hull KR at 1/7